In her keynote speech to the Local Government Association’s annual conference in Bournemouth today (July 7, 2026), Baroness Louise Casey outlined the next phase of her Commission’s work on Adult Social Care.

Responding to plans to embark on conversations with hundreds of thousands of members of the public to gauge their views on adult social care, including how it should be paid for and what their role should be in caring for family members, Damian Green, Chair of the Social Care Foundation and former First Secretary of State, said:

“A National Conversation about the future of Social Care is long overdue, so this is very welcome. That conversation must be realistic, and must address the difficult issues of where the extra money needed is coming from, how social care can escape from being seen as an add-on to the NHS, and what are the different roles of national and local government in a National Care Service. The voices of users, carers, and care providers must be heard in this conversation.”